Frequently Asked Questions

Typical questions that come to mind after browsing our website are posted here.
If you have a question that is not listed, feel free to contact us.

Q: How is Daniel Quinn involved in the Friends of Ishmael Society?

A: While Daniel Quinn is aware of the Society, he plays no active role in it. The Friends of Ishmael Society was set up entirely by readers, and receives no funding or donations of any kind from Daniel Quinn or his publisher. For information on Quinn himself, and to find more information on his work itself, you may visit Ishmael's Community.

Q: How does the Friends of Ishmael Society and its Website Differ from Daniel Quinn's Website?

A: The Ishmael's Community website serves as an extensive storehouse of information on Quinn's books and other examples of his writings. The Friends of Ishmael Society website, in contrast, is far more focused on providing material for readers who wish to take action and increase readership. We maintain this website and raise funds in order to provide tools
and ideas that help increase readership of Daniel Quinn’s work and connect
readers with each other, as well as with other important active organizations. Furthermore, we are in the process of applying for nonprofit status, which will offer a valuable solid base from which Quinn readers can work to promote his work.

A: The Friends of Ishmael Society is currently in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status. One of our stated goals in our application is to be able to respond to those of you who often ask us for help in obtaining multiple copies of Daniel Quinn's books for use in your classrooms, organizations, or for other uses. One of the main reasons we are so excited to hopefully obtain the tax-exempt status is because it will allow us to begin fundraising in earnest to fill just these types of requests. We see these requests as extremely important.

Currently, however, as such a young organization we are still setting up our foundation and do not yet have the resources ourselves to buy the books for you. The best way that we can respond at this time is to serve as a connector and put you in touch with others who may be able to help. Firstly, check out Local Ishmael Groups page, and if there is a local group in your area, you may want to contact them to see if their group would be interested in helping to fund or fundraise in order to spread Quinn's word in their community through your class, organization, etc. Secondly, you may want to contact the other organizations that are involved in providing Quinn's books to worthy organizations and influential leaders including Share Ishmael and Outreach Books.

Though we are unable to fulfill these requests right now, we do wish to hear from you. You may also want to check back in this area of the site in the future, where we will let you know when we have more capacity to respond to these requests. Also, if you do happen to find a better way to help us respond to these requests, please let us know!